This creamy Tomato Basil Soup is loaded with hidden vegetables and is restaurant-quality DELICIOUS! You can make it on the stove, slow cooker or in the Instant Pot.
I love making soup for dinner because it’s so easy to make (and sneak those vegetables in to) and it’s easy to come up with things to serve with it, like an Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Some of my other favorite soup recipes include: Broccoli Cheese Soup, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and Spicy Chicken Soup.
I have been in LOVE with this soup Tomato Basil Soup recipe for nearly a decade! I have a few different recipes for tomato soup on my site but this one is probably my favorite, and I love how it has veggies hidden inside it! It tastes great and is a little more nutritious than a typical creamy tomato soup. It tastes even better the next day if you want to make it in advance or enjoy meal prep leftovers in your fridge.
How to Make Tomato Basil Soup:
- Sauté the vegetables: Add the carrots, onion and celery to a pot with a little bit of oil and sauté them for a few minutes.
- Add: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil. Bring to boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Blend. Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) and purée the soup until smooth. Return it to the soup pot.
- Make the roux: In a separate pot, add butter and melt on medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Add the roux: Stir a big ladle full of soup into the roux-it will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 2-3 cups of warm soup to the roux, whisking it until smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot and stir well to combine.
- Stir in parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and fresh basil as desired, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
For Slow Cooker Tomato Soup:
- Add to slow cooker: diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
- Make the roux: About 30 minutes before the soup is ready, prepare a roux. Melt the butter over medium low heat in a skillet and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Thicken soup. Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the slow cooker to the roux–it will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 3 cups of warm soup to the roux. Whisk together until smooth. Add the roux mixture to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- Blend: Pour soup into blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) Purée until smooth. Return to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well.
- Finish cooking. Cover and cook on low for another 20-30 minutes or until warm.
You can also make Tomato Basil Soup in the Instant Pot!
Storing and Freezing Instructions:
- Store tomato basil soup covered, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- Freeze: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)
Serve tomato Basil Soup with:
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Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
This creamy Tomato Basil Soup is restaurant-quality DELICIOUS and it's loaded with hidden vegetables.
Print Pin Rate Add to My Meal PlanServings: 8 servings
Calories: 264kcal
Video
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes , with the juice
- 2 carrots , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 small onion , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 ribs celery , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups half and half (or whole milk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Add oil to a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add carrots, onions, and celery and sauté them for a few minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and dried basil. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) to puree the soup until smooth. (This step is optional, if you like a smooth soup). Return it to the soup pot.
- In a separate pot, prepare the roux. Add butter to the pot over medium low heat and allow to melt. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Add a big ladle full of the soup to the roux--it will start to form a thick paste. Add a few more big scoops of soup to the roux and stir well until smooth. Add the roux mixture to soup pot and stir to combine.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese, half and half, salt, pepper and basil. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
- Store tomato basil soup covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Try it served in a yummy homemade bread bowl!
Notes
Slow Cooker: Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft. Continue with step three of the above recipe. Or make it in the Instant Pot. Freezer Instructions: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)
Nutrition
Calories: 264kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 1095mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3445IU | Vitamin C: 12.5mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 1mg
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Recipe adapted from The Recipe Critic.
I originally shared this recipe December 2013. Updated September 2019.
mhollis says
Very good and healthy. I made some adjustments-doubled the oregano and basil and used Better Than Broth in place of chicken broth. I usually double the teaspoons to water ratio on that also.
Due to my adjustments, I may have changed the flavor of the soup. It is full of wonderful vegetables, but I didn’t see the tomatoes stand out with any brightness. So I added a squeeze of lemon juice to my bowl, not to the soup pot. That added a little more acidity which I think it needs.
I will definitely add this to my recipe box as it is a filling and healthy soup-I used the whole milk, not the half and half.
I save my glass jars as opposed to recycling and so I ladled them up with the soup to take to work in serving size portions.
Also, made my own croutons from leftover sourdough bread-so yum!
Thank you for the great recipe!
Morgan Ward says
This meal was pretty good. I would probably leave out the carrots next time and add more tomatoes, also with that I don’t think that I would add parmesan cheese. Other than those few thing the soup was really good.
Joshua says
I added some spinach and doubled on pepper and basil.
Other than that was delicious
Julie Wenger says
Can this soup be frozen and thawed for later consumption?
Lauren Allen says
I’d freeze it before adding the roux (freezing with the roux will change the texture slightly.). Reheat on the stove or in slow cooker and then add the roux.
Joel says
This an excellent tomato and basil soup. On those cold winter days it will definitely warm you up. If you serve this to your guests. They will ask for the recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipes. Your recipes are the best.
Kenzie says
I thought this was delicious and easy! I think next time I will add more tomatoes though to have the tomato flavor come through some more 🙂 Thank you!
Celeste says
L0ve it just as it is. And it was easy. Adding spinach sounds good. I will serve with a little rice or velveta